French Grandmaster (GM) Maxime Vacher-Lagrave has rated India’s R Praganananda in the third tier (B tier) for the upcoming Candidates Tournament, calling him a bit of a “hot take”.While he made it clear that all eight players have a chance to win, he based his rankings primarily on current form rather than pure skill.Explaining his decision, Vachier-Lagrave, as quoted by The Indian Express, said, “It’s tough because you know that skill-wise, if we were now in the first six or eight months of 2025, Pragg would be at the S level.”
He acknowledged that Praganandha had a strong 2025 but pointed to a drop in performance in recent tournaments. According to him, results from events such as the Grand Swiss, World Cup, and Wijk on Zee demonstrated the struggle to maintain top form.He added, “I’m not really convinced by his Wijk performance. And Wijk can do some damage.” As the contenders’ tournament is around the corner, they believe there may not be enough time to fully return to form. “If I have a guarantee that he’ll be able to find the key to breaking this spiral, I’ll put him in the S rank. But now I’m going to put him in the B rank. That’s how important I think the current form is.”Vachier-Lagrave also highlighted that recovering from form dips can be difficult, especially for a young player. “It’s hot enough but it’s been 6 months and his form hasn’t been really good.” He further explained, “From my own experience and the experience of other players — it’s not just about a bad Wijk anymore. It’s about six months of tournaments that were far from his best and it’s not easy to separate yourself from six months of results.”
